Having a wheezing chest cough could be physically exhausting since you have to exert effort in giving out a cough. Normally, breathing is not a laborious act but when your breathing becomes difficult and is coupled with coughing, you should get a health advice for wheezing chest cough because it could be an indication of a serious respiratory tract infection.
Coughing and deep chest congestion usually gives out a soft thunderous sound but due to varied reasons, coughing may give out a wheezing sound. A wheezing cough has a high-pitched whistling sound that signifies labored breathing.
Causes Of Wheezing Cough And Chest Congestion
A wheezing cough happens when the air passages are blocked or narrowed with mucus due to allergic reaction to certain organic substances such as pollen or animal fur. A wheezing cough is also brought about by irritation due to pollutants such as sprays, cigarette smoke, fumes, strong chemical substances, and smoke belches from vehicles. Viral or bacterial infections in the respiratory area can also result to a wheezing cough while illnesses such as asthma, emphysema, and other chronic respiratory diseases can also cause difficulty in breathing, which results to a wheezing sound especially when coughing.
Warning Signs Of Wheezing Cough And Congestion
If you are having a wheezing cough, you can take over-the-counter anti-histamine drugs for immediate relief but if you experience the following symptoms, you should immediately seek a professional health advice for wheezing cough since some causes of wheezing cough is due to life-threatening illnesses. These signs include:
- Extreme difficulty in breathing and can no longer speak.
- More and more frequent wheezing.
- Wheezing cough coupled with fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
- Stops breathing.
- The fingernails or lips turning bluish or grayish.
- Coughing up of bubbly pink, white, gray or greenish phlegm.
Having a cough can be really irritating. It can even cause you great discomforts when it is left untreated. This condition gets even worse when a person experiences dry chesty cough. So to help you avoid the worsening feeling of cough, the following are some useful tips in treating the symptoms.
Treatment And Home Remedies For Dry Chesty Cough
- Deep chesty cough can be really irritating and dry. It can even keep you awake all night. It can be exhausting, tiring, and can disturb your daily activities whether at home or at work. It can also cause you pain in your muscles when coughing. This type of cough can be treated by using a suppressant. Suppressants will help you deal with dry cough and make its symptoms less troublesome. Examples of suppressant medicines that you are available in the market are codeine, pholcodine, cough night time liquid, and other cough medicines.
- Since dry chesty cough is usually loose and full of phlegm, you will have to naturally get rid of the phlegm outside your lungs. You can do this by using expectorants. Expectorants are effective in keeping the phlegm thin and loose so that it is easy to cough up. Taking in expectorants will keep you calmed down to reduce the symptoms of cough. Using expectorants along with suppressants as medication is not a very good idea because the phlegm tends to accumulate and can even cause bronchitis and other respiratory problems. Available expectorants include Guaifenesin and Ipecacuanha that can help you cough the phlegm out.
- Moreover, demulcents are also good in soothing the back of your throat. These medicines are thick and syrupy solutions that reduce cough irritations.
- A wheezing cough can be remedied at home. There are several health advices for wheezing cough such as drinking lots of fluid or broth to largely help in dissolving or softening the mucus along the windpipe. You can also take lots of fruit juices that are rich in vitamin C like lemonade or orange juice laced with a tablespoon of honey.
- Among the many health advice for wheezing cough, taking lots of rest and avoiding congested and polluted areas for speeding up your recovery is one of the most effective. You should also abstain from drinking ice-cold drinks and avoid getting exposed to very cold air.